ENGLISH MUFFINS

Introduction & method

English muffins are an old type of bread roll that are quite popular in the English-speaking world. Do not confuse them with the American cake-type thing of the same name. It came as a surprise to me to learn that they are griddled (cooked without oil on a hotplate) rather than baked.

Make a starter culture

To begin with, you need to make a starter. Mix the starter ingredients into a smooth and glossy paste. Cover and leave it in a warm place to double in bulk, about an hour.

Make the muffin dough

Mix together the flour, salt and yeast for the dough. Break the butter into small pieces and add that. Give everything a quick stir, then add the liquid and stir that in. When it's all mixed together, add the starter, mix again and tip out onto a floured suface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Put it in a clean bowl, drizzle with vegetable oil, cover and leave in a warm place to prove until doubled in size (this will take an hour or two). Alternatively, you can leave it in the fridge to prove overnight.

Make the muffins

Sprinkle semolina onto your worktop. Tip out the dough onto it, and press the dough down to make a sheet about 2.5cm (1 inch) thich. Sprinkle semolina onto a clean baking sheet. Cut rounds of dough using a 7.5cm (3 inch) cutter, and place them on the baking sheet - turn them over so that the uncoated side gets a coating of semolina. Leave plenty of space between them because they will grow. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave them to prove for about half an hour.

Cook the muffins

You might need to experiment with the cooking temperature to get it right. The trick is to get the inside of the muffins cooked through without burning the outsides. Heat a large frying pan to medium heat. Place as many muffins as you comfortably can in the pan, without overcrowding it. Let the muffins cook for six minutes, and then turn them over. The cooked side should be a light golden brown. Cook for another six minutes, then remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool down. You may find during the cooking that some of the semolina will fall off the muffins. This will burn easily, so try to remove these specks from the pan, unless you don't mind the smell of burning food.

Serve the muffins

Muffins can be eaten for breakfast with a poached egg or bacon. They are an essential part of Eggs Benedict. You need to split them open with the tines of a fork. You can use a knife, of course, but the fork method gives a more uneven cut and an interesting texture. Lightly toast them on both sides and spread with butter. You can also make sandwiches with muffins, just as you would with bread rolls, and I recently tried assembling a burger in a muffin - it worked really well!